Carlesimo: Nets have no regrets about missing out on Blazers star rookie Lillard

New York Post | Mar 28

As Trail Blazers point guard Damian Lillard’s stellar rookie season has progressed, it has been hard for Nets fans to stomach the fact Portland drafted him with the pick the Nets sent to the Blazers as part of the Gerald Wallace trade last season.

But Nets interim coach P.J. Carlesimo has no such reservations about the move, regardless of how good he believes Lillard to be.

“We did whatever we did for, I think, good reasons, and reasons that made sense then and make sense now, however he turns out,” Carlesimo said after his team practiced at Arizona State yesterday, and ahead of its matchup with Lillard and the Trail Blazers tonight.

“He’s a hell of a player. He’s a good player.”

Portland took Lillard sixth overall after the Nets — who had given Portland a top-three protected pick, along with Mehmet Okur and Shawne Williams in exchange for Wallace at the trade deadline last March — failed to have one of their ping-pong balls selected in the NBA’s Draft Lottery last spring.

Regardless of whether the Nets would have taken a point guard with that pick, considering they were hoping to re-sign Deron Williams as a free agent, Lillard has been terrific since the season began.

He is a practical lock to win the league’s Rookie of the Year award since putting up 23 points and 11 assists in his first-ever game. He further cemented his status atop the list when No. 1 overall pick Anthony Davis missed some time with injuries.